title: Highly selective and sensitive visualizable detection of Hg2+ based on anti-aggregation of gold nanoparticles.
abstract: For the widely used gold nanoparticles (AuNPs)-based colorimetric probes, AuNPs generally change from dispersion to aggregation state accompanying with corresponding color turning from red to blue. Although colorimetric probes based on the anti-aggregation of AuNPs show exceptional selectivity and sensitivity, few examples have been reported in literature. A facile but highly sensitive and selective colorimetric probe based on the anti-aggregation of AuNPs transferred from the deactivation of aggregation agent 4,4'-dipyridyl by Hg(2+) was developed in this work. This reported probe is suitable for real-time detection of Hg(2+) in water with a detection limit of 3.0 ppb for Hg(2+), and exhibits a selectivity toward Hg(2+) by two orders of magnitude over other metal ions. The dynamic range of this probe can be conveniently tuned by adjusting the amount of 4,4'-dipyridyl used.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Advanced Materials, Department of Chemistry, East China University of Science and Technology, 130 Meilong Rd, Shanghai 200237, PR China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Hu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Zhongping
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xinhua
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhong